We're All Mad Here
by WinterLoveSong
Summary: Full summary inside. Naminé falls down a rabbit hole and into a complex plot of the Organization's, in which everyone's playing a part from Wonderland. In the end, not only could Kingdom Hearts be at stake, but the lives of everyone she cares for. T.
1. Prologue

**Title: **We're All Mad Here

**Full Synopsis: **Xemnas is gone. The rest of the Organization, however, is back, with Marluxia at its head. Naminé has also come back unexpectedly...but it may have something to do with the fact that Kairi, along with Riku and Sora, are being held hostage by the Organization. She doesn't know what to do, when suddenly she falls...down a rabbit hole? The Organization has cooked up something dreadfully mad this time, and Naminé must find her way through this dark Wonderland while still retaining her sanity, knowing that not only could Kingdom Hearts be at stake, but the lives of the people she cares about the most.

**Rating: **T - for language, violence, and some slightly sexual content. (Meaning, a certain pervertedness from both Axel and Marluxia.)

**Pairings: **Naminé/Repliku. A bit of Naminé/Axel and Naminé/Roxas, but even less of the latter. One-sided Marluxia/Naminé. Also, on the side, Sora/Kairi. But all in all, this is not a romance fanfic, though there is romance in there. If you don't like any of those pairings, don't read this, please! Or rather, you can read it if you like, just don't flame me for the pairings that I choose. Once again, this is not really about the romance, and as there are so few mushy bits I don't think it really matters all that much.

**Disclaimers: **Mine. Totally mine. No, honestly, I wouldn't even be writing a fanfiction if I owned Kingdom Hearts. So, I don't own Kingdom Hearts, nor do I own the concept of Wonderland - that belongs to Lewis Caroll. The plot idea, however, that's mine. Nothing else do I own. Ideas for the Organization's Wonderland are taken from the books Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, the Disney movie Alice in Wonderland, and some ideas are even spurned from the computer game American McGee's Alice. None of those belong to me, otherwise...? I'd be filthy stinkin' rich.

* * *

Prologue

"What are we going to do now?"

The question was ringing in the air about every five seconds. Not one member had a clue - with the Superior out of the picture permanently, the air was thick with uncertainty…well, as much uncertainty as a Nobody could manage to muster up.

The question was announced once again from a frail, slender Nobody with violently red hair and catlike green eyes. They were narrowed at the authoritative figure of the room, whose hood was up. The one standing on a little white chair in the little white room with the little drawings on the walls as the only color. The red-haired man folded his arms across his thin chest, his lips pursed.

The hooded figure paused, glancing around the room. True, he'd betrayed them all once before - and he counted ten of them there, besides himself - but they'd all had their fair share of lies and deceit and treachery, hadn't they? _Especially _Eight. Why, Eight had no right to glare at him so - teaming up with the Keybearer? Unthinkable. Unheard of. But it had been done, yet here he was, among them, as if he didn't have that ounce of good inside him.

Well, the good certainly wasn't showing itself now, and it probably wasn't about to. Only under extreme circumstances did Eight allow his will to crumble to the light. Darkness still reigned in the little white room.

All of them, the whole of the Organization…they were looking at the hooded figure as if he were their last hope for survival. Well…he was. After all, he was the one who had brought them all back. And he'd done more than that, which they were about to witness.

"What _are_ we going to do now?" The hooded figure repeated the heated inquiry, casually tugging off his black hood, revealing dusty, rose-colored locks and cold, ice blue eyes. "That, indeed, is a very good question."

At that moment, the door to the white room slowly creaked open, and inside stepped two figures.

One was in a black cloak, but his hood was down, revealing a teenage boy with blonde hair and light blue eyes, and a strangely vague expression. The authoritative figure of the room heard the redhead's little intake of breath and smiled coldly.

The other was a young man with long, silvery hair and teal eyes. An exact replica of the Keybearer's best friend. He stared coolly around the room, seemingly unnerved, almost sneering.

Marluxia continued to smile at the room.

"I propose…we play a game."

-

Marluxia was, much to the unpleasant surprise of some of the older members, in charge of the Castle Oblivion again. But after all, he did have a point - he had brought them back.

He called a meeting in Vexen's laboratory. Some members were intrigued for what he was going to say - what a way to end their last meeting, "I propose we play a game"; others were blatantly hostile, believing the Organization was going to be permanently stamped out should Marluxia lead them.

The circled the Graceful Assassin, preparing themselves for what he had to say.

"As you know," Eleven began when the rustle of cloaks fell silent, in his usual roundabout manner, "we were once great."

"Were we?" Axel muttered under his breath. Marluxia pretended not to hear.

"But along came that blasted Keybearer."

Several ill-tempered grunts came from some of the cloaked members, shaking their heads in remembrance of what the almighty Keybearer had done to them. He'd permanently wiped out Superior, that much was certain, as Marluxia had been unable to get him back. But, along that same train of thought…how did the Graceful Assassin even raise the rest of them up from the darkness? He was a mysterious man, that much was certain.

The pink-haired man raised a hand, and the room went silent. "Yes, the Keybearer. He and his little friend who would not submit to the darkness inside of him, that Riku, along with that Princess of Heart Kairi." And at the mention of Kairi's name, Marluxia couldn't but remember the little witch who'd once lived inside Castle Oblivion, with him, and he didn't bother to suppress a slight, cold smirk. "But as you can see…Roxas is among us."

He extended a graceful arm, pointing to the blonde figure with a stony expression set upon his face, whom Axel was standing beside.

"What might that mean?" Marluxia continued on. "One cannot exist without the other, yet here Roxas is, separated from him. What, oh what, might that mean…?"

"It means," the Luna Diviner murmured from the group, "that Sora is somehow out of the picture."

Marluxia's smile spread. "Exactly."

The Freeshooter gave a short whistle. "Eh, Marly, how'd ya manage that?"

The Assassin waved his hand nonchalantly. "Another day," he breezed. "You'll hear that story another day. Nonetheless, Sora is apprehended." He gave a short gesture to the figure standing beside the Chilly Academic, the replicated figure of a silver-haired boy. "And Riku has also been suppressed. How else could Vexen be able to gather the data to re-create his little doll's heart?"

"And the Princess?" the Gambler of Fate interrupted, arching a brow. "Has she been subdued?"

Marluxia nodded once.

"Then…where is Naminé?" the Cloaked Schemer inquired quietly, steeping the tips of his fingers and gazing over the tops of them unblinkingly.

"Ah…this is where the game begins."

A glance went exchanged all around the room. "You mean…you don't have her?" the Melodious Nocturne said uncertainly, looking anxious.

For some reason, at that, the Replica's face hardened, as did Roxas'.

"No, he doesn't," Vexen answered for Marluxia, his face already glowing with the prospect of another experiment. "But this is because of an experiment I will be conducting…with all of your help, every one of you." He gestured around the room.

The Savage Nymph snorted. "If you think I'm going to be a guinea pig for you, old man, you've got another thing coming."

Marluxia arched a pale pink brow. "We're all going to be test subjects, including Vexen himself. Hold your tongue, Larxene."

The blonde scowled at Marluxia, but turned her head away. She knew better than to argue with the one in charge…for now.

"So tell us, Vexen - what's this experiment you're preparing us for?" The Flurry was staring at Marluxia when he asked the question, however.

"Let me put it this way…" The Academic leaned forward. "Have any of you ever been to Wonderland?"

A few of them nodded, by now utterly confused.

"Well…our little Naminé's going to fall down a rabbit hole into our Wonderland. But she's going to have a fighting chance to get back out again. The weakest and the most frail of all the Nobodies, and she has a sporting chance to save the Keybearer, his friends, and get out alive. This is an experiment that I'm testing out - what happens when one little girl faces everything she fears?

"I call it… Operation Madness."

* * *

**A/N: I realize there's a lot of unexplained stuff in the prologue, but of course not everything's going to be explained simply in the prologue! You'll have to wait and see in future chapters what happens.**

**R&R please! (as a note, the chapters are hopefully going to be a lot longer than the prologue)**

**-WinterLoveSong**


	2. The Rabbit Hole

The Rabbit Hole

Naminé was drawing.

Of course, she was nearly always drawing - her surroundings, her "feelings" (it was supposed that, being a "special" Nobody, she did have some), memories that weren't hers - but nonetheless, she was drawing. A box of old, worn down crayons was before her on the little white table, and she was hunched over her sketchbook, as if trying to make herself as small as possible. That was her pose in most cases; being visible was one among many downfalls of being her own person. Though, in all technicality, she would never be her own person, and this body belonged to Kairi anyways.

She let out a sigh, pushing her sketchbook away. Too much was troubling her - it was hard to concentrate on such petty things as drawings. For instance, the most troubling question…

…why was she here?

It wasn't supposed to be possible. She had to be with Kairi. She had to. Ever since Xemnas had been defeated those few months ago, she'd merged with Kairi and Roxas with Sora. That was the way it was. The way it was supposed to be, even; it's unnatural for half a person to be walking and talking, isn't it? So…why was she here?

The thought lingered with her was like a fly that wouldn't buzz away. And it was the sort of fly that always comes back, like on hot summer nights when you're lying in bed and all you can hear is the buzzing, and no matter how much you swat at it, moments after the buzzing recedes, it returns. Not only was this fly of a thought the slightest bit annoying at its recurrences, but it was worrying. She wasn't with Kairi. One half cannot exist without the other. That meant Kairi had to be incapacitated somehow…

Naminé had actually taken the time to portal to Destiny Islands in the last few days (though it did take quite an effort on her part - the ability to create dark portals was not beyond her, but it was one way to decrease her stamina effectively.) She'd taken the time to scout around without being seen, and had deducted as much from conversations that three people were missing from the Islands. Sora, Riku, and Kairi.

That was not good, not good at all.

She wondered where their hearts could be. After all, it was impossible for her to come out of Kairi's heart directly; the Princess' heart had not a shard of darkness in it. Sora was the most likely candidate for where Kairi's heart went, and if he'd let it free again, it'd create her, as well as going back to Kairi…so then, she wouldn't be entirely incapacitated, just captured or missing somewhere. So then…was Sora a Heartless?

Yet, in her recent recollections of Sora's memory, he wasn't a Heartless. So…he was whole…? That was quite possible, for sure…

Another thought struck Naminé. If Kairi's heart had lodged in Sora's body and he had released it (causing Naminé's existence), then he had also inevitably released his own heart, which could mean one thing…

…was Roxas also existing?

It was quite possible, Naminé reasoned. After, she was there, wasn't she? Roxas being there, too, wouldn't be that surprising. The question was, where was he? Where were Sora, Riku, and Kairi? And why?

It was entirely probable that the porcelain blonde would have sat there in silence for a very long time, wrapped up in the company of her mere thoughts and internal inquiries, searching inside herself for an answer which either she was reluctant to admit or which didn't exist in the first place and she had to find it elsewhere, if she hadn't suddenly heard the sound of something clicking.

The click was definitely mechanical. It was repetitive, as well, something forever trapped in one rhythm, not unlike a metronome, forever clicking on, telling you exactly the speed of your singing. But it didn't sound as much of a click as it did a 'tick, tock, tick, tock' of a watch. The sound was muffled enough to make her believe it was coming from something as small as a pocket watch, but distinct enough to not pass by as perhaps a natural sound from the exterior of the Mansion (where she was currently residing).

Naminé sat up in chair and glanced around her for the source of the noise. An object glinted from the center of the table - something sleek and dark silver with tiny intricate black designs that greatly resembled a spiral version of the Nobody symbol and Heartless symbol combined. It gleamed in the white light of the White Room, almost eerily, having a strange ethereal feel to it. And she saw, reflected in the light, the definite face of a watch. A very fine silver chain hung on one end.

A pocket watch.

As she sat there, gazing at the strange object, she began to wonder why she hadn't noticed it earlier. It didn't fit into the air of the room, nor did it fit into the lighting. In fact, if it had been there the whole time, it had also taken her a very long time to hear the ticking of the second hand. Which led to the idea that it had only very recently entered the room, but…how, without her knowing about it? How could it merely have materialized there?

"Curious," Naminé murmured, making a decisive reach for it.

Then, suddenly, halfway through the reach, her pale hand froze in place as a gloved one inches from her swiped it up. She couldn't move for a few moments, so utterly taken by surprise, before she jerked her head up to stare at a man with brunette hair and dancing blue eyes, so much like water, along with a playful yet nervous countenance…

"Demyx!?" Naminé questioned incredulously as soon as she had found her voice.

The man before her flashed a quick, mischievous smile before consulting the pocket watch. His smooth, young face creased into a worried frown, however, at whatever it said on the watch and shoved it into the pocket of his trousers. He announced in a whiny voice (the usual Demyx tone), "Aw, dang, I'm late!"

Naminé didn't move. She didn't speak. She was too amazed yet mortified at the sight in front of her to do much else but stare. And stare she did, until she finally took in what she was seeing. Not only was it Demyx, but he was dressed in the strangest articles of clothing - a brown tailcoat, a crisp white button-down shirt with an ocean-blue bowtie, and sleek silver-and-black trousers that matched the pocket watch (though they had blue swirl patterns on them, too). Also, for some ludicrous reason, he was wearing white rabbit ears (the costume sort, though they looked near authentic) and black makeup lines on his face that Naminé realized was supposed to represent whiskers.

A feeling rose up in the back of her throat. A premonition. A bad one. And a feeling of remembrance - she knew this, somehow, as sure as she knew Demyx.

(Also, as she observed him walk over to the other side of the room, she saw a fluffy rabbit tale poking out of the back of his pants.)

He heaved a great sigh and Naminé, too entranced to move, watched him with wide blue eyes. He stuck out his right arm and, without much gusto, created a dark portal. And if things weren't already odd enough, he created it on the floor, so it much resembled a hole.

And, without further ado and holdup (except a slight grumble about being late again), the Melodious Nocturne stepped into the hole and vanished.

Finally able to control her limbs again, Naminé slowly, shakily pushed back her chair and walked - nearly staggered - over to the portal on the floor. She got on her hands and knees and peered, swallowing, over the edge. It looked like a hole, all right. A long one; she couldn't see the bottom, it was far too stepped in darkness. The edges were wispy tendrils of the darkness, reminding her this was a dark portal, though where to she hadn't the slightest inkling.

Trembling, Naminé pushed herself closer to the edge. If she had a heart, it would've been pounding by now. As it was, adrenaline was rushing through her veins. And suddenly, in a rush, she got a feeling that whatever down there was dangerous, mysterious, and volatile, but also key to unlocking the most recent mysteries: where were Sora, Riku, and Kairi, and why were the Organization back (or at least Demyx, anyways, but she felt that if one of them was back, more of them probably were.)

Closer…closer…closer still, until…

She slipped, her hands no longer grasping the edge, and felt them stick into the darkness. For one precarious moment, everything shifted, and she sucked in a breath, striving to maintain her balance, but suddenly, she was falling, and then everything was a rush of darkness and wind and sound and suddenly…

…she was facedown on something soft.

It felt good to lie there after the horrific fall down the "rabbit hole". She breathed slowly, deeply, attempting to calm the blood pulsing through her body, taking deep, shuddering breaths. The experience itself was enough to make anyone's head spin. She could only imagine what it'd be like had she had _real _emotions.

She would have been quite content to lay there for a good long while had a slim finger not tapped her on the top of her head and informed her in a very knowledgeable tone,

"Don't dawdle, Nami, we're very late indeed."


	3. Catfight

Catfight

Slowly, painstakingly, Naminé lifted her head off the ground. Her hand fluttered to her forehead, and she pinched her eyes shut, drawing in a deep breath. The fall had taken a lot out of her. She pushed herself gently up to a sitting position, her legs crossed Indian-style. She breathed a sigh and let her eyes flicker open.

Immediately, her gaze was met by close - too close - jade green, catlike eyes.

She found herself immobile for a second as those eyes blinked playfully at her, then started to withdraw. Her breath caught as the owner of those eyes backed up, standing upright, and leaned against a rather gnarled tree. She recognized those eyes…and that face…and definitely the markings high on his cheekbones…

"Axel?" she questioned, feeling similar surprise as when she had seen what she believed to be Demyx earlier.

The redhead winked. "You got it, babe."

Oh yes. He was definitely Axel. But he looked different… Naminé studied him a bit more, frowning lightly. He was dressed in the same sort of interesting manner Demyx had been - almost like…a cartoon character. She could see, through the vivid red spikes of his hair, little velvety-purple triangles poking out - cat ears. He was wearing a sleeveless, clean white shirt with a high collar and the first few buttons unbuttoned. Fingerless, elbow-length, pink-and-purple striped gloves were fitted to his arms. Skinny, black pants replaced normal baggy black pants of the Organization wear, and on his feet were loose, violet boots. A fluffy, rich purple tail was visible just behind him. "Why…you're a cat," she exclaimed decisively.

He grinned, exposing sharpened incisors. "A _Cheshire _cat."

Her eyes widened at the infliction and glanced around herself. She appeared to be in some sort of hollow, or cave; the walls were smooth and dark, and curved upwards in a twisted fashion. Yet, grass was growing, as she was sitting on. There were even flowers, and gnarled trees like the one Axel had taken his place by. She reached out and tentatively stroked the petal of a rose, as if to see that it were real. It was unexpectedly sharp, and she winced, pulling back her finger to inspect it. There was a tiny drop of crimson blood.

"Where…where am I?" she asked, a bit dazedly.

"That depends…where do you think you are?"

Naminé's eyes flickered up to his, which met hers in a seemingly innocent way. She frowned, glancing at her finger once more…and suddenly noticed what she was wearing. A blue dress. It was about the same color as her eyes, a very light and pretty blue. The sleeves were puffed, and exposed her shoulders. Tied around her waist - and the bow was very big and elegant on her back - was a very plain and white apron. Sleek black Mary-Jane's found themselves on her delicate feet. White stockings contrasted with the stark black of the shoes.

She raised herself to her feet, noting that Axel's eyes never left her. She reached up and put a hand to her hair, and felt a black ribbon tied there, substituting as a headband. Her eyes took in her surroundings once more, the twisted scenery, the strange costumes…

Confusion was written on the girl's face as she turned her gaze back to Axel. "Are we…in Wonderland?"

"A Wonderland of a sort," he corrected with a chuckle. "Not the Wonderland you'd know from Sora's memory… No, this is an entirely new Wonderland, with new actors to play the parts."

It was all very confusing, to be sure, but Naminé was starting to get a grasp of where she was. She averted her eyes once more to the ground, and she saw - curiously enough - something…seemingly white glowing from underneath the grass. A white ground? How odd…how very odd indeed.

Naminé started to play with the edge of her apron, suddenly experiencing a very sharp feeling of foreboding. There was something very off about this place, and she felt she ought to know what it was. It was enough that Axel was here, as he was supposed to have vanished into Nothing, as well as Demyx was supposed to have done, who was apparently alive and kicking. Perhaps this had something to do with the Organization? That seemed a likely answer. Maybe it connected with the other mysteries surrounding her, too.

It was strange enough, however, to frighten her away; she wasn't sure how much longer she wanted to be here. It would be nice to, of course, solve the various mysteries, but getting out was a very tempting thought…

Timidly, Naminé looked up to meet Axel's gaze. He was the Cheshire Cat, after all, and as she as Alice, wasn't she supposed to ask him for help? That sounded like a good enough idea to her.

Preparing herself for very vague advice, she asked quietly, "Where should I be going?"

"Hmm…" He raised his hand to inspect his fingernails (which Naminé noticed were longer and sharper than normal fingernails). "That also depends."

"On…?"

"If you can handle this place."

Before her eyes, fire sparked in the palms of his hands, popping and crackling in a hot storm. His chakrams materialized in his lazy hands, and he directed a playful yet slightly evil Cheshire Cat grin at Naminé. "Do you think you can?" he prompted.

Naminé swallowed, taking a step back.

Axel laughed, lazily chucking one of his chakrams at her head. Her eyes widened and she immediately ducked, her hands covering the top of her hand.

"Come on," he said easily, his voice coming closer. "Put up a fight, Nami. There's gotta be some kinda spitfire behind that quiet personality of yours."

She looked up, seeing Axel's other chakram poised to ram her through. She rolled out of the way on her back just in time, causing it to sink deeply into the ground.

Quickly, before he could pull it back out again, Naminé stumbled to her feet and started to dart down the tunnel, away from the rabbit hole she'd recently fallen down. She started to pant, feeling the adrenaline coursing through her veins, coupled with something akin to fear. She raced as quickly as she could through the tunnel, desperately hoping for there to be a light at the end, dodging trees and deadly flowers on her way through the twisted maze. All the while, she heard Axel's voice behind her, coaxing her maliciously to come and play with the Cat.

A stitch started to form in her side, and she tried to ignore it. Her feet slapped the ground hard with every stride, echoing unnaturally in the cavern. She held her side, gasping for breath, unable to keep her balance for much longer…

She tripped and tumbled, landing in a heap behind a particularly large and crooked tree. She let out another gasp of pain, grasping her side, sucking in large gulps of air. She used the tree to hoist herself back to her feet, trying not to scrape the black roses that were growing oddly on it.

Suddenly, a streak of fire blinded her vision, and she froze as a baseball-sized sphere of flame spun just in front of her face and landed on the wall and sizzled out of existence, leaving behind a vicious burn mark. She smelled smoke; the tips of her hair were singed.

Naminé was frozen in place. She couldn't move, not even when a chakram had suddenly lashed out and lodged itself in the tree just above her head. And then those eyes were inches away from her, those startlingly green eyes, along with that catty smirk. Sharp claw-like fingernails rested on her throat.

"Do you give up?" he purred, his eyes flashing. There was a moment of silence.

"Well, if that's the case…" He started to raise his other chakram when he let out a yelp of pain and dropped it, clutching his own side. He stared in shock at his hand, which was sticky with his own blood.

In a moment of quick thinking, Naminé had gathered up enough courage to pluck a rose from the tree and shove it into his side while he was occupied with summoning up energy for his final attack. The blood on her own hands was proof of her deed. Her fingers were still bleeding.

Axel stared at her for a moment. She stared back; not challengingly, but merely because she knew not what else to do with herself. She was still quite frightened, and in shock herself for what she had done. Her spirit was not a fighting one. She doubted it really caused a lot of damage, but believed he was as surprised as she was.

"Well," he mustered out finally, and Naminé was surprised when he smirked. "You do have what it takes to survive here. For now." He sucked in a breath, still clutching his side, and grimaced, shaking his head. "Never woulda guessed it from lookin' at ya, Nami…

"Here." He fished into his pockets and pulled out something flat, something almost paper-like. He held it between two of his fingers and stuck it out for her to take. "Take this and move forward."

Hesitantly, her hand shaking, she plucked it from his grasp and peered at it. It was a card. (How characteristic of the Organization…) The Two of Hearts, to be precise. She fingered it for a moment, frowning lightly, but still very shaky and trembling.

She glanced up to meet his gaze again…and found only his Cheshire Cat grin left, before that vanished entirely too. He was gone.

Naminé stood there for a moment, speechless and still in quite a bit of shock, before delicately placing the card into a pocket in her apron. It was best to do what he said. _Take this and move forward._

She wiped her sticky, bloody hands on her apron, wincing as they caused a bright red stain. She pushed herself away from the tree and started to walk forward, running everything through her head. This was far too strange for her to want to be a part of…but the longer she was here, the less she believed she had an actual choice in the matter.

The tunnel was apparently almost at its end, as a dim light could be seen farther on. She quickened her pace, stepping lightly on the spongy grass. _Almost there, _she thought. _I'm almost there…_

She turned a corner and found herself staring at a pair of bright white doors. _So that was the glow… _She tentatively walked forward. There was something very familiar about these doors, all right…they looked a lot like the door sets found in Castle Oblivion.

Naminé looked closely and found a place underneath one of the fine white handles where a key would go; except this hole was not shaped like a keyhole, but perhaps a place to put something slim and flat…like a card, for example. Examining the door more, she realized that there was a design above it; an elegant looking heart with a scripted "2" inside of it. Two of Hearts.

Naminé took a deep breath. "Well, here goes," she mumbled, pulling the card out of her pocket and sticking it into the hole. She shielded her eyes from the blazing glare of light that suddenly appeared as the doors swung open.


End file.
